A finish and more Noah's Ark - hence the rain?!

Well, what a weekend -  more rain, floods, Wimbledon Tennis - almost too much to cope with.  I just love "Wimbledon Fortnight", it is such a good excuse - as if the continuing rain isn't enough - to sit and sew whilst watching fantastic tennis.  Despite the outcome I have loved every minute and feel quite lost this afternoon without it!
I have a finished cross-stitch to show you:

I am so pleased with this, and it was fun to sew.  It is now with the framers -  I have chosen a dark rustic wooden frame which I hope will look in keeping.  And I have collected my two latest Noah's Ark pictures:

When I was up in Surrey last week taking care of my friend Lise after her 3rd hip operation, she gave me this fantastic Noah's Ark as a Thank You for being such a good nurse!:

Our kitchen dresser just keeps filling up:  the beautiful soup tureen to the left of The Ark was a present from Stella, one Lise's friends, so roll on winter then I can fill it with delicious home made soups:

I also managed to see my friends Tim and Helen for coffee Sunday morning, and meet their grandson Otto:

Here is Otto on the "Cheese Quilt" I made for them, he is utterly gorgeous!

So all in all I had a lovely time in Cobham, the kids all came down to see us which was fantastic and I managed to see old neighbours and friends.  Lise is one of those rare girlfriends who always manages to raise my mood, and she tries to keep me focused on what really matters in life. I love spending time with her. I know I have lost that optimistic feeling over the last year due to being badly let down by someone we trusted - and it has been hard for me to "bounce back".  I am still struggling as everything has changed so much, but with three terrific kids and a few true friends "things can only get better" - the rain has matched my mood recently.  Never mind - onwards and upwards!  The sun has to shine again soon.

I am now off to work on my patchwork which has taken a back seat during my trip away and the tennis.  Now I have no excuse, nor do I want one - I only have two rows left to do plus the border and I am excited about finishing it. 

So I hope to show you the finished article in my next Blog, plus I have a baby quilt to sew for little Emily who was born in the early hours of Saturday morning - and I need to start another cross-stitch project - I really want to sew this Shakespeare's Peddler pattern:

I'm feeling more cheerful already!